Always
by onbrokenfeet
Summary: You're the avatar, going on a date should be no problem...right? This was originally going to be a one-shot but due to request it will have more chapters!
1. Chapter 1

You roll out of bed from a long, well deserved nap. You scratch your head through your knotted hair as your feet make small taps against the wood of the floor. Your throat echoes a loud yawn as you make your way down the hallway.

"Korra?" a voice says. "Korra, did you just wake up?"

"Yeah, Pema" you say back, letting out another yawn. Pema steps closer to you, her voice almost a whisper, concealing your secret. "Shouldn't you be dressed?"

"Dressed for wha-?" Of course! You're an idiot. Your brain is suddenly much more active then it was a moment before. You yell something along the lines of a thank you and you can hear Pema giggle as you run to the bathroom. You turn on the hot water and scramble to get your clothes off. How could you have forgotten? It's your first date, dummy. You nearly jump in to the tub as it fills with water, sinking down and grabbing the soap. What will you wear? You've never asked yourself that before. You've never cared. You begin scrubbing yourself vigorously, trying to scrub off an entire week of airbending training. You had sweat oozing from you and yet still you would collapse for your afternoon nap without a care. That's just how you were.

"Korra!" the voice called again, knocking on the door. "Tenzin will take you in to the city on Oogi so you won't be late" Pema calls. You relax slightly, so you won't be late after all. But, does that mean Tenzin knows? No, most likely not. Pema did promise to keep your date a secret. She was good at keeping her word.

You pull the plug from the drain and as the water swirls your mind begins to wander. What will she be wearing? Will she look any different? We're only going out to dinner. But she's so high-class, will it be somewhere fancy? You're the avatar, you are as big as it gets. Everyone in the world knows who you are. Yet still you feel so inferior to her. And you never feel inferior to anyone. She's probably out there somewhere, putting on a lovely shade of red lipstick. You wonder how her kisses feel. She's probably out there somewhere, sliding in to some new dress that's straight from the closet of the fasion designers You wonder if her curves will show off just right. She's probably brushing that curving falling silk she calls hair. You wonder what it will feel like in your fingers. She's probably out there right now, with expectations. Yet here you are standing in the bathroom completely naked. Daydreaming.

You run, butt naked down the hallway, back to your room. You left your towel behind. Poor Tenzin, who had been coming to check on you, now has a face the color of strawberries oozing all over it.

"Sorry Tenzin!" you call behind you. He mumbles somthing and tries to keep about his business. You begin throwing your clothing everywhere, no no this won't do. No this is a weird color! Ugh! Why couldn't it be easy? Why couldn't your date just be a little less perfect? No. You had to choose the girl who seemed to be blessed by the spirits with pure beauty. She's so sweet, like the last drip of hunny on a summer's day. Gentle like the breeze. She'll love you no matter what you look like, yet still you strive to impress her. You aren't one to care about appearances, this isn't like you at all. This girl causes something strange inside you...something new. You sort of like it.

"This? Maybe this..." you mumble to yourself.

"Maybe that?" the voice says. Pema, I'm naked! You want to tell but still, a mother would be nice right now. Guidance is accepted, though you won't admit you need help.

"I'll be ready soon" you say, letting out a groan. Your cheeks are a light red. You wrap the blanket from your bed around you as you stare at the mass of clothes on your floor.

"Not soon enough if you don't pick something" Pema says.

"I'm working on it!" you snap.

"I see that" she said. She moves in closer and places a hand on the top of your head. "Asami is a sweet girl" she whispers. "Why don't you just be yourself? That's who she likes right?" she asks.

This is true. Asami likes you. Even when you burp, even when you pick your nose. She'll stick her tongue out, or act grossed out. Yet still she smiles. She'll still hold your hand, as long as the boogers are gone. She'll still hug you even when you're covered in sweat. She doesn't care. She just likes you. You don't understand why, but it's true.

"Thanks Pema" you say, a smile grows on your face. She returns it and she leaves almost as if on cue as Meelo runs down the hall, just having taken a very-old-ancient-relic from Tenzin's room. He seemed to be using it as a helmet. You laugh as the parents run after him, then look down at the pile of clothes. Just be yourself huh? You can do that. Your tense muscles relax and you pick up your normal attire. Your water tribe tunic, your traditional blue pants. It hardly seems date-worthy, but it is just dinner. You fumble, pulling on the pants. You slide the tunic over your top-half. Soon enough you've got your hair fixed as usual. You slide your feet in to your boots right as Tenzin comes in with Meelo under his arm. He's mumbling something about a little demon. You chuckle as he walks closer.

"Are you ready?" he asks.

"Yes" you say with a smile.

= - = - = - = -

The flight on Oogi is short, but Tenzin drops you off just two blocks from the retaurant. There's no assurance that you aren't late, you forgot to check the time. Tenzin shouts down that you should have fun, and you thank him with a smile. Yet when you turn to the street, you face your real fears. Here you are, walking to meet your date. Your thoughts come back. What will she think? Will it be strange? Of course it will be strange. You've never thought this way when it came to girls. Asami had a girlfriend before, she knows what it's like. You don't. You hesistently make your way there. You are excited, as well as scared. Your palms start to get damp with sweat. You take slow breaths in and out. You stare at the entrance of the restaraunt.

You could always turn around, go home. You could say you were sick. You could say you had to train. No, no you couldn't. You couldn't lie to her, not now. You couldn't leave her sitting there waiting. You gulp, swallowing the last bit of fear. You walk tall in to the restaraunt. It's surprisingly casual, just like where you get noodles with the team. Your muscles relax again, you let out a happy sigh.

"I think my date is already here" you say to the man at the front desk. He points and there you see her. She's already sitting down and she's smiling at you. Oh, that smile. It covers you in goosebumps. Asami is endlessly beautiful in your mind, in other's too. She was even prettier than Tahno.

"Hey" you say, your smile widens. Asami stands to greet you, she gives you a tight warm hug and places a soft kiss on your cheek. So that's what her lips feel like, you enjoy it. In fact you give her a soft kiss in return, on her lips. Her porcelain cheeks turn bright red and her smile widens.

"I'm glad you came" she says softly.

"Me too" you say. You both sit down and suddenly somewhere in her face, you find peace. The rest of your aches melt in to long lost memories. You begin to talk with her, telling her jokes. You make fun of Tenzin, and she snorts. You find that adorable. You compliment her, and she blushes. You spend the next hour talking and eating. She has table manners and you have none. Yet she only chuckles as you stuff your face.

You walk her home when it's over, you hold her hand the whole way. She gives you a soft kiss on the lips again, her hand on your cheek. It has just turned dark, the night hiding both of your blushes. You give her a warm hug and soon you're wishing you didn't have to say goodbye.

But as she walks in to her home, you watch her. You know that at least one thing is true. You love her, and she loves you. You always will. No matter what. Something in you says that she'll always love you back. And just like that, you feel weightless. You stare in to the sky as if you were floating among the stars.

You wonder what you were so worried about in the first place. She may be perfect, she may be flawless. But she's yours, no matter how many mistakes you make. She'll always be there, just like the moon at night. No matter what you do, or what you say. You are happy knowing this one thought.

She'll always be there.


	2. Wake Up

A/N : It was requested that I make a prequel to Always, so here it goes. This may span in to a few chapters. I may even add on an Epiloque of what happened with their relationship. Anyway, Enjoy please!

-

Even though the crowd is probably making more noise than ever, all you can hear is a faint echo of their cheers and cries. You're sure of a few things. You're sure that Tenzin is yelling at the ref. You're sure that the faint shadows you see above you are Bolin and Mako. The words that they're saying are probably questions as to whether or not you're okay. You aren't even sure of what just happened to you. Each time you blink, everything, all the chaos takes another step back. You're sure something's wrong. You can't feel anything, it's all numb, it's all so far away. Are you dreaming? No, no that hit was real. That much you know. You lay here silently guessing for a moment until suddenly everything goes black and you're sure that you're dead. At least, close to it. That's when your mind replays it for you, just as the radio is probably yelling it to the people of the city.

You were all still in the first ring, except for Mako who had gotten knocked back by their water bender. You had been lighter on your feet than ever, dodging and flipping. You were some how hitting harder. All this training was paying off very well. It was you versus their fire bender for a while, so evenly matched. Then suddenly you hit him with a mean left hook of water, knocking him off his balance for just a second. Bolin took that second to send a disk hurling at him. He was back in ring two.

"Nice job Bolin!" you call over.

"Team Avatar kicking butt!" he yells back, jumping in the air with a grin on his face.

You're back in the zone now, though. Keeping on your toes as the game continues. A few leaps over some fire bending moves, a few dodges of some disks. One or two more fierce hits and you've almost got all three of them pushed back. The only one left is the earth bender. He's still right up front and he's got this mean look in his eye. He wants to win, and so do you. He's ready to fight and so are you. Now it feels personal, that look in his eye.

"You're going down" you say under your breath. It starts off really smooth, Mako is hitting fierce, Bolin is hitting hard, and there you are right in the middle. Your feet just brush against the ground as you spin, you duck, you hit. Right now, there is no crowd, you have no teammates, you have just the ground beneath you and your opponent. You're swinging water left and right, each hit is harder than the last. You're dodging faster, he can barely even lay a hit on you. You've nearly got him knocked back in to the next zone when something goes wrong. Suddenly all you see is an intense glow of red and orange. You manage to duck just before it hits you. You're thrown off and you realize that the firebender found a weak spot, you've snapped out of your focus now. Your mind is stuck in a moment of what just happened?

This is where he finds his opportunity, this is where you wished you would have paid attention. A disk of hard earth slams you right in the face.

That's how you got here, laying on the floor, staring in to an endless void of empty white. The noise of the arena is getting further and further away. Soon, there's nothing. Not even your own thoughts.

-

White, eternal, unending. It's all you could see, bright. Where were you? What happened. Slowly your eyes opened. Your match! You had to get up and fight! Your mind wanted to force your body up yet still you stayed still. Maybe it was because of the feel of soft sheets under your fingers. Maybe it was because of the scent of the ocean under your nose. Maybe it was because your body was still trying to understand what happened. You lay for a moment, finger tips trace around in the sheets, eyes searching around for an explanation. That's when you hear it, the last thing that makes you know that you're awake. That you must be home.

"Korra? Are you awake?" the voice is gentle, soothing. Your blue eyes make their way over and there she sits, right be your side.

"Sort of" you say softly. How long have you been laying here? Hours? A day...two? You're confused, that's for sure.

"How does your nose feel?" she asks.

"Broken" you say, there's that stinging pain in your face, you turn your head and there's a bowl on your nightstand. "Is that water?" you ask. She nods and hands it to you. You scoot your body up so that you're almost sitting, you place your hand over the bowl and bend the water to sit in your palm. Soon it's resting on your face. It's a stabbing pain at first, the cartilage rearranging itself and bending in to it's original form. Your muscles tense but you make no real response to the pain. You're sure it's healed and so the glowing water is returned to the bowl and you smile at Asami.

"So how long was I out?" you ask.

"2 days. Tenzin has been pacing around non-stop. Katara said you would be fine, though"

"Katara's here?" you ask and she nods. "How long have you been-" you go to ask and she stares down in to her lap. Her raven hair shrouds her cheeks which seem to turn a light pink. "A while" she responds. You look down and sure enough there's a bed roll on the floor where she must have been sleeping. In your whole life you never would have guessed that Asami Sato would be bunking in your room and taking care of you.

"Katara didn't want to touch you until you woke up" she says. "Tenzin has been worried sick, Bolin and Mako too, we all were" she explains.

"Sorry to make you worry" you say, sitting the bowl of water on the nightstand, you turn to stand. "Oh who are these from?" you ask. There are six different vases sitting in your room, some on the nightstand, some on the floor. They're all filled with the prettiest flowers you've ever seen.

"The white vase is from Katara, the red one is from Pema and the children, the blue one is from Cheif Beifong, the green one is from Bolin and Mako, which I think Bolin dropped it and tried to put it together again" she thinks for another moment. "The golden one is from the earth bender that hit you, and the big purple one is from me" she smiles at that last part.

You stare down at your gifts for a moment, how lucky you are to have people who care for you.

"Wait- Why are the ones in the red one-" you stop as she looks disgusted.

"Meelo thought it was a-"

"On second thought, I don't want to know" you put your hands up and she giggles. You stand up and she does too. She grabs your hand.

"Well? Come on, everyone is waiting for their avatar to make an appearance" she says with a smile and you follow her. Everyone is sitting in the dining room, Tenzin and his family, Katara, Cheif Beifong, Mako and Bolin. You smile wider as everyone is so happy to see you. You wave and chat and assure everyone that you're fine, especially Tenzin who is ready to send you back to bed.

You sit down with Asami and begin talking to everyone, chatting and smiling. You don't even realize one little detail. You're still holding her hand.


End file.
